Hunter S. Thompson Describes the Night He Was Beaten by Hell's Angels

"The Angels claim that they don't look for trouble," Hunter S. Thompson tells radio broadcaster Studs Terkel in a PBS interview. "They just try to live peaceful lives and be left alone, but on the other hand they go out and put themselves into situations deliberately and constantly that are either going to humiliate somebody else or cause them to avoid humiliation by fighting."

The year was 1967, and the gonzo journalist had just released his book on the notorious biker gang, Hell's Angels. Now PBS has animated that interview for its whimsical Blank on Blank series.

At one point, the journalist says, he kept his eye on "the guy who had originally teed off on me" because he "didn't want to have my skull fractured." Thompson later admitted that he had been stomped himself. "I keep my mouth shut now," Thompson says later in the interview, noting his desire to stay out of trouble. "I've turned into a professional coward."